


Perspective in Pain

by karwdreams



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Angst, Child Abuse, Forgive Me, Hurt/Comfort, Iroh (Avatar) is a Good Uncle, Ozai (Avatar) Being a Terrible Parent, Post-Canon, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Pre-Canon, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-05 00:55:44
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,711
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25135762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karwdreams/pseuds/karwdreams
Summary: Before Zuko was crowned Firelord, he was a prince at the mercy of his father. Before he became the best tea maker in Ba Sing Se, Iroh was a general with the whole world on his shoulders.Iroh learns about the treatment of his nephew by those meant to protect him.
Relationships: Iroh & Zuko (Avatar)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 360





	Perspective in Pain

Looking back on his regrets, Iroh has learned to see the good with the bad. Looking before his nephew, the new Fire Lord… he sees Zuko’s life. The highs, the lows, and every mistake he has made as a guardian of sorts of the young fire bender. Only sixteen years old with the whole weight of the broken nation on his shoulders. A weight that he must bear due to the situation that Iroh put his nephew in. His stubborn nephew that won’t ask for help, not that he ever has before.

Iroh notices the reflexes seared into Zuko, seemingly permanent reactions that reflect his failings. Zuko slightly flinching (no one seems to notice except Iroh) when someone raises their voice in a threatening manner in council meetings, still feeling the hold of his father in this room. Zuko staying up until day break, looking over scrolls until he comprehends centuries of policies and histories of the four nations, and yet is not satisfied because he believes it shouldn’t take him so long to comprehend the texts. Zuko coming back from visiting his sister, cursing himself for not being a better brother to her. For being “too blind” to see the extent of their father’s grasp on his little sister’s mind.

Iroh feels sick when he hears this, for he himself was once that blind. If he would have connected the dots sooner, Zuko wouldn’t be in this state of mind. If Iroh would have just seen the pain his nephew was in as a child, he could have done something, right? 

~

Crown Prince Iroh was in his office, looking over war plans, when there was a hesitant knock at the door.

“Come in,” the general answered.

The door opened, revealing another prince, Iroh’s teenage son, Lu Ten. Although Iroh was busy, he always had time for his son. 

“Ah! Lu Ten,” Iroh exclaimed with a smile, “How was Piandao?”

“Practice was... dad, can we talk?”

“Why, of course,” Iroh answered, taking in the state of his son who looked more troubled than any child should. 

“It’s about Zuko.”

Hm. Odd. Iroh puts away the maps scattered in front of him and replaces the papers with two cups of Jasmine tea. His son’s favorite.

“What seems to be the problem, son? Did Zuko get hurt?”

“Yes, well, no. Sort of. I’m not sure,” Lu Ten stammered.

“What happened?”

“Master Piandao was showing Zuko some blocking moves with a training sword, and his… his sleeve sort of came up a bit. Dad, his arm was burned pretty bad. I tried to ask him about the burn after practice, but he kind of just ran off. He really needs to get a healer to check it out.”

Iroh took in this information. He hasn’t spent much time with his nephew ever since the young prince started firebending a year or so before. His brother had his two children in lessons all day so there hadn’t been much time for him to check in with Zuko, but he knows from talks with Fire Lord Azulon that Zuko’s firebending is pathetic at best. He started bending later than his younger sister, and hasn’t seemed to get the grasp of it.

Oh, poor child. He must have burnt himself while practicing and was too embarrassed to tell anyone. Lu Ten was the same way when he first started out, too proud to have his small mistakes known. Spirits, even Iroh now is known to hide the extent of his battle injuries to the healers in order to appear stronger.

Iroh took a sip of his tea, “I’m glad you are looking after your cousin and that you brought this to me. I’ll talk to Zuko today after my meeting with Lieutenant Lee.”

Relief washed over Lu Ten’s face, “Thank you, father. I am just worried. Zuko’s usually open to talk about anything with me. I guess I’m just being overprotective.”

“Better to be overprotective than apathetic.”

With that, Lu Ten left his father to continue with the rest of his day, one full of meetings and planning. There was a group of Earthbenders that were causing trouble that needed to be stopped, and plans on how to do so took most of the day. 

It wasn’t until the evening that Iroh was able to step away and make his way to his nephew’s quarters. He knocked several times to no answer. Odd. It was well into the evening. Zuko must be in, probably close to being ready to go to bed. 

Iroh turned to another room, the one belonging to Ozai and Ursa. He sighed, not really wanting to talk to his brother tonight. This thought instantly made Iroh feel guilty. He shouldn’t be avoiding his brother, no matter how manipulative and mean-spirited he might be. 

Maybe he should just talk to Zuko tomorrow. Iroh took a step away, but was brought back by the memory of the concern on his son’s face.

He knocked, and Ursa opened the door.

Oh thank Agni.

“Oh, hello,” Ursa greeted the prince.

“Sorry for intruding so late, but I was wondering where I might be able to find Zuko?”

“He is with his father in Ozai’s office. Is something wrong?”

So Ozai is also out. 

“Do you mind if I come in?”

Ursa opens the door wider, allowing her brother-in-law to enter the bedroom. The room looked much like Iroh’s, only a bit smaller with a lot less decorations. In fact, there doesn’t seem to be any indication that this room was the permanent residence of anyone, much less someone who is third in line for the throne. They should really put up some pictures, but even as a child, Ozai wasn’t that into sentimental things like that. It was too low, too pedestrian. 

“Would you like some tea?” Ursa questions, breaking Iroh out of his trance.

“I have never been one to turn down tea before,” Iroh smiled, “You know, when this war is all over, I would love to open up a little tea shop in the city, with all the blends the four nations could imagine.”

“Imagine that. Seeing the Fire Lord making tea,” Ursa shook her head, placing a cup in front of her brother.

“The Former Fire Lord,” Iroh mused, “By then, Lu Ten will be on the throne, and I will be retired- eating pastries and playing Pai Sho.”

Ursa chuckled. It was a nice sound. Iroh’s sister-in-law usually only laughed in the presence of her children. The prince considered making Ozai’s wife laugh to be an honor.

There was a warm silence for a few moments.

“So,” Ursa said, getting to business, “what brings the crown prince to this side of the castle?”

She phrased it so lightly, but Iroh still hesitated. It’s always awkward to tell someone their kid is hiding something. He didn’t want to cause any sort of rift in the little family, but Zuko’s safety is more important than covering his nephew’s embarrassment. 

“Lu Ten came to my office earlier today after Zuko’s and his sword training with Master Piandao. He was concerned for Zuko’s health as he appeared to have a burn mark on his arm, untreated by any medic.”

Ursa’s eyes got wider, probably due to the shock that her son was injured, Iroh reasoned.

“Now, no need to worry,” Iroh continued, “Trust me, when Lu Ten was first starting out with bending lessons, he was accidentally getting burnt all the time. And even the most experienced fire benders don’t like admitting that they made a mistake, but I just wanted you to be aware so you could talk to Zuko about not being afraid to speak up to his trainers, you, Ozai, or even me, and my son so that we can get him the help he needs.”

Ursa nodded slightly, her face being a stark contrast to what it was earlier when she was laughing with Iroh, “Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I’ll make sure to get a healer to look at Zuko’s arm. Now if you excuse me, I must be getting to bed.”

“Of course, thank you for the tea and the talk.”

Iroh left the room, feeling much better than before. He told Ursa about her son’s injury and lack of confidence, and now he can go back to his office, confident that everything will be taken care of. Zuko will get the help he needs and will learn to tell his trainers or father when he was hurt.

Thinking back in the present day, Iroh wishes he would have paid more attention to his sister. Maybe then he would have noticed Ursa had a matching burn on her arm.

~

Sibling rivalry was something Iroh knew quite well. As a child, Ozai was always competitive with him, and Azulon had no qualms about pushing his children to spar on and off the practice field. Ozai would always eat it up, challenging Iroh in firebend, in school, even in things like table manners and pai sho. As a child, Iroh was quite amazed by Ozai’s persistence, but he grew to avoid his brother due to his ruthlessness.

Ozai was glad that he had a few years on his brother, allowing them to have a gap between what they were learning in tutoring sessions and in firebending lessons. 

Zuko did not have that luxury. He was only two years older than his sister, who was much more accomplished than him in all areas important to Firelord Azulon. Iroh watched them compete from a distance for years. It wasn’t until one day shortly before his siege of Ba Sing Se, did he first see just how competitive the two children were.

Iroh is walking passed the courtyard, heading to a meeting with the war council, when he hears a groan and Azula’s voice breaking through the relative silence of the palace.

“Get up and fight, Zuzu!”

Iroh turns towards the noise. He sees Zuko on the floor cradling his leg close to him and Azula standing above him, hand still glowing with fire. Iroh grabs hold of the banister, waiting to see how this interaction unfolds, and readying himself to call for a medic, but this looked like your run of the mill firebending training session between the siblings. He heard about their sparing times from the palace servants, but Iroh never had time to see one for himself. It looked like Azula had bested her brother, a common occurrence according to the servants.

“Go away, Azula,” Zuko shot back, voice much stronger than it should be considering the level of pain his leg probably is in.

“What? Afraid to be beaten.”

“I’m not afraid, I just don’t feel like shooting fire at my little sister.”

“Like you could even hit me. Father said you have to practice. You wouldn’t want to make a fool of yourself in front of grandfather again, would you?”

Zuko picks himself up, “I am practicing. Just leave me alone.”

“I’m just saying. You know what will happen if you embarrass yourself again, don’t you Zuzu?”

With that Zuko shot a blast of fire at his sister, which she blocked with ease. The younger’s laugh was cold, unlike the warm ones Iroh had heard from Zuko and Ursa when they were in the garden talking about art and nature.

“Are you sure you’ve been training? That was pathetic.”

“Shut up!” Zuko yelled, throwing another easily blocked blast of fire.

Breathe, nephew, Iroh thought to himself. The angrier Zuko got, the sloppier his technique became. After the fire nation gains control of Ba Sing Se, Iroh will teach his nephew more about meditation and breath control.

“Come on, brother, you have to do better than that if you ever want to win one of these,” Azula smirked.

“What do you want from me, Azula?” Zuko groans, sweat sliding down his forehead.

“Hmmmm,” Azula mused, mockingly, “I want you to hit me. I’ll even stay still if that helps, not that it ever has before.”

Azula plants herself to the dirt and holds out her arms, challenging her brother to hit her. Iroh sighs to himself, knowing that this won’t turn out well one way or another.

Zuko takes a deep breath, and holds his flaming arm out, ready to strike. He looks at his sister for a moment, taking in her stance, her cold eyes. Iroh can practically feel his nephew’s sigh before Zuko puts down his hands.

“I’m not going to fight you,” the young prince resigns.

The fireball Azula shoots at her brother is so blinding, it is practically blue. Zuko’s reflexes cause him to raise his hands in front of him a split second later, allowing him to block some of the heat, but he wasn’t quick enough to stop most of the flames that engulfed his left shoulder, burning a hole through his shirt, and leaving a nasty looking burn. 

Iroh gasps from the balcony. Azula shot her head up, surprised. She must not have noticed he was there, but her face didn’t convey any guilt.

Iroh called for a guard to lead Zuko to the infirmary before making his way down to the courtyard where his niece stood with a bored look on her face.

“Hello, uncle,” she greeted.

“Azula, what were you thinking? You could have seriously injured your brother,” Iroh tried to remain calm.

He learned from raising a child of his own, raising your voice was no way to teach. He knew it was the preferred technique for most Fire Nation parents, including his own father, but that just causes the kid to be scared. He wasn’t trying to scare Azula, he just wanted her to learn.

“Father wanted us to practice. Zuko refused. What did you want me to do?” Azula shrugged.

There was so much of Ozai in his daughter.

“Your brother didn’t want to fight. You should have respected his wishes and stood down.”

“Is that what you’ll do in Ba Sing Se, uncle? If the Earth scum don’t fight, will you just pack up and move on or will you conquer the capital like Firelord Azulon commanded. I’m listening to my father, will you listen to yours?”

Azula walked away, leaving Iroh alone in the courtyard to think. His nine-year-old niece’s questions rang in his ear for many years after.

~

After the failed siege of Ba Sing Se, after the death of his son, Iroh crumpled in on himself. He hardly noticed when his brother basically usurped his spot as Firelord. He was still numb at his father’s funeral. He couldn’t fully comprehend why Ursa was sent away. 

He spent his days drinking tea, sitting in his room, and meditating, silently praying to different spirits, of all nations that this war would end. 

It took him months to be able to feel less fuzzy, to not feel tears come to his eyes when he noticed something that reminded him of Lu Ten. Instead, he poured himself into work with the White Lotus, making sure that all the members were well and equipped for any problem that might come their way.

But he was still alone. And weak. Agni knows, if his father was still alive, Azulon would tear into Iroh for being too cowardly to finish the siege, for becoming fat and lazy and for having any feelings at all. So Iroh locks those feelings away and pays attention to what he can control.

Which leads him to follow Zuko for a day. Iroh doesn’t know what draws him to his nephew in particular, but it works for Iroh. He follows the young prince- now the Crown Prince- at a distance to all of his lessons for a day. Zuko doesn’t seem to notice his uncle’s presence just outside the door, and his tutors must certainly not see the former general based on their treatment of Zuko. 

Iroh watches in horror as his schooling progresses. If the young prince gets an answer correct, the tutor will give him a passive aggressive compliment, but if he gets an answer wrong…

Iroh’s breath stops as Zuko doesn’t know the answer to one of the questions about the air nomads. Without hesitating, Zuko stands up and is met with his tutor hitting his arms with a ruler. Zuko sits back down and answers the next question as if he wasn’t just assaulted by his tutor.

Iroh knew that this was the kind of treatment he was given as a young student, but he just assumed things would be different now. It had been decades since Iroh stepped foot in a classroom as a student, and yet, the treatment of the students hadn’t gotten any better. 

This kind of treatment continued for every different tutor, every different subject with varying levels of pain. Iroh stood, watching his nephew for hours upon hours, transfixed by the treatment of the next Firelord. If he didn’t know the date of a random ancestor’s coronation, he would get something thrown at him. If he didn’t know how to conjugate a certain verb in every dialect of the Fire Nation tongue, he’d get hit with a cane. If he didn’t remember which spoon with the traditional dessert no one in their right mind would order, he’d get a slap to the head. Zuko’s worst subject was obviously math. It was hard for him to understand how the numbers and letters work together to make up a solution. Any time Zuko got a problem wrong, his tutor would make him hold ice in his hands until he could figure it out.

In previous lessons, Zuko would get hit around some, but he generally knew most of the answers, but in math, he had to hold on to ice for most of the hour. The longer he held on, the harder it was for Zuko to think. Iroh watched in horror. This is something the military would do to firebending recruits who were causing trouble, not something that a twelve-year-old should do if they didn’t understand algebra way beyond their grade level. Iroh was practically shivering with his nephew by the time the hour passed. To be honest, Iroh was impressed the young prince hadn’t fainted with that amount of pain to his inner flame.

Finally, the final academic session ended, and Zuko left the room with a bow to his tutor, and ran directly into Iroh.

“Oh!” Zuko exclaimed, “Hi, uncle.”

“Prince Zuko, do you think we can get some tea. I would love to talk to you about-”

“Sorry, I have firebending lessons right now.”

“Academic lessons and firebending lessons on the same day?” Iroh questioned.

“Yeah, and Master Lee will be upset if I’m late, so I must go. Maybe we can catch up later,” Zuko answered running towards the courtyard.

Spirits, Zuko was going to firebend after holding onto ice for that long? His master must be very good to teach the young prince about the breath of fire needed to warm up his inner flame. 

The math tutor stepped out from the room and bowed to the older man.

“General Iroh, can I help you, sir?” 

Iroh whipped around to see the man who was previously abusing his nephew.

“Yes, you can. Mr. -” Iroh trailed off.

“Ito.”

“Mr. Ito, I was looking in on my nephew’s tutoring session, and I was understandably worried.”

“I saw that you were watching, sir. What seems to be the problem?”

Ito knew he was watching and yet he still acted so harshly with the Crown Prince? His own nephew? Agni, was Iroh so lowly that people were no longer respectful towards him? No longer caring about his thoughts?

“Never mind. I must be going. Goodbye, Mr. Ito,” Iroh left the hallway.

Iroh needed to bring this up to Ursa- no, she’s no longer here. Iroh needs to tell his brother, the… the Firelord, about the treatment of his son by these so called “tutors”. No child should be taught in such a manner. Students’ minds should be cultivated and encouraged, not beat down. The resounding “thwack” from one of Zuko’s assaults after he asked why would the air nomads have an army if they were peaceful in one of his mother’s play scripts echoed in Iroh’s mind.

This damned nation. 

“Your sister could do this move when she was six!” A man’s voice called out.

“Sorry, sir,” a smaller voice answered.

Zuko.

Iroh made his way towards the courtyard where his nephew was attempting a complicated kata in front of a man who was intimidating even to Iroh. This must be Master Lee.

“Again.”

Zuko tried to do the move again, but even from his height, Iroh could tell he was using too much force and not enough breath control to complete it. His nephew ended up tripping over his left foot, sending himself on the floor. 

“First you’re late,” the master criticises, “and now you can’t do a simple kata. What is wrong with you?”

“Sorry, sir. I know I can do it. One more time.”

“You’ve had your chance. Time for endurance training.”

Iroh could see his nephew’s face grow pale. A pit formed in Iroh’s stomach. Something was wrong. 

“Please, Master,” Zuko begged.

“Are you disrespecting me now, you coward?”

“No, sir.”

Iroh watched as Zuko took off his shirt. Odd.

“Three minutes,” the firebending master said.

Zuko nodded and took his place in the middle of the courtyard, turned around, and closed his eyes. Iroh had trained hundreds of army recruits, and yet had never seen this training technique. What was going on? 

Iroh’s question was answered a second later when arrays of small fire blasts were shot at his nephew. Then the master switched to fire whips. Then more fire blasts. Iroh’s shock rendered him speechless as he witnessed this act of violence that was technically treason.

He wished the same could be said for his nephew. At first his tough demeanor had him silent, then after a few seconds grunting and groaning. By the end of the assault, Zuko was on his hands and knees, crying and yelling at every hit.

“Get up,” Master Lee commanded.

Zuko shakily started to stand, taking a few moments to get to his feet.

“Now do the kana again.”

“Stop!”

Iroh’s voice shocked himself. He was never one to raise his voice, even as a commander. It shocked the master and his pupil as well, with the young prince flinching.

“Ah, General Iroh,” Master Lee answered calmly, “What seems to be the problem?”

Is he joking?

“What do you think you’re doing?” Iroh calls back, “You just assaulted Crown Prince Zuko. That is a criminal offence.”

Zuko lowered his head, trying to make himself seem smaller, as if he wasn’t there at all. As if he wasn’t just brutally attacked by this man who was supposed to be his teacher. Who was supposed to be there for him and help him. This will traumatize the poor boy into thinking fire is just for destruction and pain. Spirits, this lesson was traumatizing Iroh.

“If you don’t like my methods, General Iroh, you can take it up with Firelord Ozai.”

This arrogant bastard! 

“That’s exactly what I’ll do. Prince Zuko, let’s go.”

Zuko looked up at his uncle, eyes wide. 

“I… Uncle, I’m fine.”

“Obviously you’re not! I just saw this man whip you with fire!”

“Uncle, please. I need to train.”

What is going on in the world? Has everyone gone crazy? He’s just trying to help his nephew just like he tried to help Lu- … Don’t go there, Iroh. Not now. Zuko’s eyes practically begged for Iroh to leave him alone. 

“Fine, but we’re discussing this later.”

With that, Iroh made his exit, making a beeline to a room that couldn’t be made warm with all the fire in the world: the throne room.

Firelord Ozai was sitting on his throne, discussing something or another with a member of the war council.

“Iroh,” Ozai said cooly, “What an honor. I haven’t seen you in the throne room since right after your siege. Well, almost siege.”

“We need to talk.”

With the wave of a hand, Ozai dismissed the member of the war council.

“I’m all ears, brother.”

Iroh didn’t even know where to begin. He felt like this day had lasted centuries. Was this an everyday occurrence for the Crown Prince? Did Azula face the same sort of treatment from her tutors? Iroh needed answers, so he decided to start at the beginning.

“I followed your son around today.”

Ozai grew cold, “What did he do?”

“Nothing, brother. I am here to talk about his tutors. They’re terrible! I have never seen anything like it. His teachers were abusive. More so than I have ever seen at any commoner school or by our tutors from childhood. Ozai, they were throwing things at him, hitting him, affecting his inner flame- it was terrible.”

Ozai remained neutral, probably taking in this information, “And what of his firebending instructor?”

“He was the worst of all. Zuko didn’t understand some kata, so Master Lee made him stand in the courtyard while he threw firebolts at him and hit him with fire whips until he was crying on his hands and knees. I have seen prisoners of war treated with more respect than the Crown Prince.”

Ozai stood up out of his throne, towering over his older brother, “So what you’re saying is… Zuko still hasn’t mastered the 15th kata?”

Really? That’s really what his brother is focusing on? Iroh knew his brother could be cold-blooded, but this was a new low.

“Brother, I am begging you, let me instruct Prince Zuko in firebending. I have more than enough experience, and I won’t abuse him. You need to fire these tutors and hire some that will help your child instead of traumatize him further.”

“Iroh, I let you raise your kid however you wanted. Let me raise mine.”

“Ozai-”

“That’s Firelord to you, brother.”

“Firelord, I know this is a lot of new information. I just need you to think about what is best for Zuko.”

The flames around the brothers grew higher.

“How dare you assume you know what is best. I instruct Zuko’s tutors to prepare him for anything.”

He… he knew?

“If Zuko thinks he will become Firelord,” Ozai continued, “he needs to be able to prove to me that he is ready. That comes with being educated, honorable, and a master in fire bending. From what you’re telling me, it seems my son is even further behind than I thought, unlike Azula who is able to meet my standards without the need of this kind of force. I guess I will have to talk to Zuko’s tutors in order for my son to at least come close to the lowest bar I have set for him.” 

Iroh could hear his heart beating. He just made everything worse. He was trying to help. He turned to leave before his brother’s voice called him back.

“One last thing, brother,” Ozai finished, “Stay away from my son. I don’t want your failure rubbing off on him like it did with Lu Ten.

Iroh remained calm as he exited the throne room, not allowing his brother to see that he had gotten a rise out of him just by mentioning his son. Once he got out of the throne room, he sighed. His brother, the Firelord, the most powerful man in the nation- the world- was complacent in the abuse of his son. Iroh couldn’t even imagine what he would have done if he heard one of Lu Ten’s tutors hurt him, much less encourage it. His brother is truly something else.

Iroh didn’t see his nephew until a few days later when he finally found the time to sit him down for tea. There, Zuko confessed that his tutors were all replaced with his current ones around the time his mother left. Zuko has had to deal with this kind of treatment for months. How could this be possible? How could Iroh not have noticed the bruises? The fear? Why hadn’t Zuko said anything?

“It makes me better,” Zuko answered when his uncle asked, “I don’t like it, but I have improved. It makes sense. How can I expect to be a leader if I don’t know simple firebending techniques? I kind of need the pain in order to learn. It helps me become stronger.”

Oh, Agni, protect this child.

~

It wasn’t until Prince Zuko was thirteen did Iroh truly see just how blind he was before. 

After the incident with the tutors, Iroh forced his nephew to spend more time with him, even if it was for five minutes at the end of the day. Iroh needed to make sure the young prince was safe.

For the most part, he was fine. Iroh couldn’t help but to notice the new bruises and scars adorning his young nephew’s small frame, but Zuko was getting stronger. He boasted that his firebending was improving so much that he had almost beaten Azula in a sparring match. 

“Father even said he could see me in battle. Can you believe that?” Zuko smiled one evening, seeming not to notice the cut on his forehead.

Zuko never asked him for help, never mentioned any of the abuse Iroh knew he was still receiving. And Iroh, ignorantly he knew, never asked. In a few years, Zuko will be eighteen and free of this abuse. Iroh just needed to be there to give his nephew a warm cup of tea, a game of pai sho, and a good story that the prince never fully understood.

It wasn’t until the Agni Kai did Iroh comprehend just how much Zuko was suffering.

He should have never allowed the thirteen-year-old into the war room. He knew the 

Crown Prince. He should've known that he was much too immature, too stubborn, too kind-hearted to hold his tongue in a room full of that much wickedness. As an active participant in war councils in the past, Iroh should have been fully aware of the kinds of talks that room was known to hold and been able to shield his nephew from that world.

Iroh had seen Prince Zuko in pain before. He had seen him burnt, bleeding, and crying, but it was never at the hand of his father. Iroh hadn’t even considered the possibility of a father being able to hurt their child, the being that Agni blessed you with. Seeing his nephew kneeling before his father, Iroh wondered how familiar Zuko was with his father’s rage. How often had his baby brother raised his hand against his own son?

When Ozai lifted his hand to Zuko’s face, Iroh turned a blind eye for the last time.

~

It wasn’t until months after the war had finished, months after his nephew was crowned as the Firelord, that he was able to spend time one-on-one with his nephew.

Firelord Zuko took a small break on a business trip to Ba Sing Se to visit the Jasmine Dragon. He even waited on some tables, as if he was still the angry banished boy he was a year ago, to the surprise of some of Iroh’s customers.

After closing up the shop, Iroh poured the little family two cups of Jasmine tea, pulling up a chair to sit next to his nephew who collapses at a table.

“I need to apologize to you, nephew.”

“You know, uncle, I think you purposefully are short-staffed when I’m visiting so I’m forced to wait tables again,” Zuko laughs.

It was so nice to hear his nephew laugh. It was like he was still in the gardens with his mother or pretending to play soldiers with his older cousin. But this isn’t a laughing matter. Later, later they can go back to laughing, but Iroh needs to get this off of his chest.

“No, nephew, I’m sorry for not being there for you when you were a child.”

Iroh had tried to talk through Zuko’s trauma when they were on the boat, but Zuko just wanted to re-learn firebending to account for his loss of sight and learn as much as he could about the Avatar. After Aang had been discovered, his nephew had the stubborn desire to regain his honor. Then he began his reign as Firelord. Truly apologizing for his shortcomings as a guardian slipped through the cracks as the much greater need of survival and gaining peace came first.

“Uncle, be quiet.” Zuko said, face calm.

“No, I need to get this out. There were so many clues throughout the years that I missed, or I didn’t want to see. I should have been able to help more.”

“And what? Go against the Firelord? Uncle, I don’t blame you for anything my father did. In fact, the opposite. Any time I was hurt, you… you were there. You tried every step of the way. That’s all that mattered.”

“I could have done more. Fought harder.”

Zuko looked his uncle intently in the eyes, “You forgave me for being a complete monster while I was banished. You even forgave me when I betrayed you, and chose the man at the center of all my pain rather than you, the person who risked everything to protect me.”

“You betrayed me once as an angry child under the control of his abusive father. I betrayed you every time you were hurt by an adult who was supposed to protect you by turning a blind eye. I was an adult, I should have been more attentive, more concerned for your wellbeing. And I am sorry for being so selfish.”

“Uncle… I don’t know how to say this without being disrespectful, but you’re being crazy right now, and trust me, I know crazy. I’ve broken into several prisons with almost zero plans, but if it makes you feel better, fine. I forgive you.”

“It does. Thank you, nephew.”

The duo finish their teas, and for the first time in a while, Iroh feels lighter.

“You know, Firelord Zuko, I’m really proud of you.”

Zuko attempts to hide his blush, “Thank you, uncle.”

Iroh smiles warmly with his nephew.

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Child Abuse, PTSD, anxiety
> 
> I'm so sorry for putting this child in more pain.
> 
> Thanks for reading though.


End file.
